Sunday spent recreating on the river at Knights Ferry

A warm afternoon and the cool – OK, cold – water of the Stanislaus River were just the right combination to lure folks from far and near to Knights Ferry Recreation Area east of Oakdale on Sunday.

Visitors were enjoying the site in just about every way possible: hiking, tubing, rafting, swimming, picnicking, barbecuing, even plein-air painting.

This Sunday, a different kind of recreation – shopping – will have the recreation area bustling with browsers and buyers at the Knights Ferry Gold Country Peddler’s Faire.

The annual event will boast more than 100 vendors of antiques, collectibles and crafts located at the historic covered bridge. “We try to keep it about half and half as far as antiques and crafts go,” said Gayle Higgins, vendor coordinator with Knights Ferry History & Museum Associates, which presents the Peddler’s Faire in cooperation with Stanislaus River Parks. “We try to stick to only antiques and handmade crafts, such as woodcarving and metal arts,” with no “flea market” kind of booths, she said.

Higgins noted that admission and parking are free at the fair, which is expected to draw about 5,000 people. Proceeds will benefit the nonprofit History & Museum Associates. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/peddlersfaire.

This story was originally published April 20, 2015 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Sunday spent recreating on the river at Knights Ferry."